China Roses
by Abarero
Summary: Could you see them. Speak to them. Know them as no historian ever could. You’d see two women: a confident, blue-haired vixen and a smug, purple-haired maiden, who were much more than just warriors. [A Ruri x Hari Collection]
1. 1: Beginning

**Author's Note:** This will be my collection of Ruri/Hari ficlets I've written for the livejournal community iy(underscore)no(underscore)kakera.

For those needing a reminder- Ruri and Hari were the two females who worked under Menoumaru, the Movie 1 villain. Ruri is the one with the blue hair and Hari, the one with the purple hair.

Other notes:

- The 'Ru Qun' is the name of the outfit Ruri and Hari wear when not in their armor

- While this falls within the same timeline as my other Ruri/Hari story: "The Sword and the Spear" you don't have to read that one first to understand these.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Title:** Historics 

**Theme: **Set #1, Theme #1 -- Beginning

**Genre:** Drama/Introspective

**Pairing:** Ruri x Hari

**Word Count:** 413

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **There's more to a person's life than what the history books tell you.

* * *

When and where it began was nothing but a historic suggestion; found only as a footnote or in implications of the research about the time. 

Some texts merely mentioned "two women warriors who could be found in the service of the moth-lord." Buried within other documents, amidst the words that survived the time, a small passage was all that remained about the two besides that.

_"There were many in service of the Moth-lord, including rumors of two beautiful women skilled in battle. These two were said to have served Menoumaru, the current Hyouga's son. While some would take that to mean some form of prostitution, there has been significant indications that the two women were only romantically involved with one another and not with the moth youkai."_

But when did it really begin?

Not the vagueites of history nor the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens. But the real, true, moment it began.

Like the books stated, life had lead them to serve Menoumaru as two skilled female warriors. There was Ruri, who fought with a spear; her defiant orchid eyes piercing her enemy much like her blade. And there was Hari, two swords at her command; easily summoned from small leaves by her skilled illusions. That was that; just the facts and nothing more.

By textbook standards- it began when they joined the Hyouga's army, for without that- they wouldn't even exist in the world of text.

By destiny's standards- it began before they were even born; the two destined from lives before to be intertwined by fate's red thread.

Yet if it was possible to traverse back through the ages. Could you see them. Speak to them. Know them as no historian, archeologist or anthropologist ever could. You'd see two women: a confident, blue-haired vixen and a smug, purple-haired maiden, who were more than just warriors.

And if you were able to ask all the questions that have been speculated about for years- they would both give the same answer.

_When did it begin?_

"When did what begin?"

"You'll have to be more specific than that."

_When did your story begin?_

"Our story?"

"The one just about us?"

_The story of Ruri and Hari._

A moment of a thought. A smile shared between the two. One begins; the other follows. Both coming to the same conclusion.

"It began…"

"…the moment…"

"…I knew…"

"…I loved her."

And you'd realize how simple the answer really was all along. Because isn't that how all love stories begin?

* * *


	2. 29: Moon

**Title:** Fancy the Moonlight

**Theme: **Set #1, Theme #29 -- Moon

**Genre:** Romance/Drama/Shoujo-ai

**Pairing:** Ruri x Hari

**Word Count:** 837

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **Hari's not the only one who goes crazy during the full moon; she's just the only one who drags me along for the ride.

* * *

_The loveliest faces are to be seen by moonlight, when one sees half with the eye and half with the fancy._ -- Persian proverb

* * *

"I'll be going now, Ruri." 

An impish smirk is painted on her face and I shake my head at my own weakness for it. It looks like I won't be sleeping tonight...

"I guess I'll come and watch this time," I mutter as I get out of bed.

Her jade eyes light up and she stifles a giggle, I bet she knew I'd come along if she continued to nag me. She can be downright pushy if she really wants something.

As we make our way down the hallways, I notice Menoumaru giving me a knowing look as we pass his quarters.

She always goes; he knew one day I'd follow.

Hari's not the only one who goes crazy during the full moon; she's just the only one who drags me along for the ride. Every month when it comes around, she can't resist the pull of the moon- its demands for insanity bearing down on her, driving her to do things she wouldn't dare to otherwise.

She told me once it was traditional in her family, but I never pressed for details. Our lives before coming under Menoumaru's care isn't something we often talk of. There's no need to bring up pointless depressing thoughts when we can live in the present.

She crosses the fields, going to the same spot she always has. It's the clearing in the trees, near the lake, where the moon's reflection illuminates her from the water's surface. That's where she'll perform.

I've seen her do this once before- a dance: wild and exotic, enticing and alluring. Menoumaru joked that it was a ritual, a display to lure in a dumbfounded mate.

I laughed it off at the time, but now I have half the mind to believe him.

The dance from before seemed lost and sporadic, like a newborn taking its first steps; but this time- it's focused and precise, a wonder to behold. She's clearly been practicing it, perfecting the movements; and a lump rises in my throat when I realize why.

_"You weren't supposed to see it yet!"_

Her words from that night I saw her dance this way before ring out in my ears. I can remember clearly how I complained to Menoumaru as we headed back to the yashiki, not yet understanding what this dance was for.

_"Sheesh, what the hell's her problem? It's not like I was making fun of her or something..." _

"She doesn't want you to see it until it's perfect. Who knows- perhaps it's a dance to lure in a mate," Menoumaru replied, his laughter at his own joke echoing down the hallways.

Now, under the pale moonlight, everything is as clear as day. This dance, this insanity, this moon-spawned creation was done all for me.

Spinning and twirling, not a step out of place, Hari's smile beckons to me. _It's a dance for two_, her eyes tell me. _Just take my hand,_ her lips mouth to me across the field and her rhythmic movements elaborate, _You'll__ know the steps right away. Trust me._

And perhaps it's because that damned full moon, but that insane reasoning makes perfect sense tonight.

Drawn not by motion, but by the outstretched hand- I stand to meet her. Fingers intertwine, bodies press against each other, and together we dance. Dance like the two fools we are out under the moon.

And like she said, it's a dance best with two. Like she promised, I somehow know the steps.

"Ruri, do you understand now?"

Her breath rustles against my hair as she takes me for another turn.

"Yes," I manage to reply, no other coherent words able to be spoken.

"Good."

And before I even know what's happening, she pulls us both into the lake's cool water. The moonbeams sinking even into the deepest depths, giving me just enough light to see that same impish smile grace her lips before they press against mine.

* * *

We return very late, our ru qun's soaked and all the craziness out of our system for now. As I expected, I can see Menoumaru's lounging about out front waiting for us. 

"It is said that you can't fish for the moon in the water…" He speaks, amusement laced in his tone.

Before I can snap back for him to mind his own damn business, Hari cuts in.

"We were dancing with it instead."

He stands languidly and stretches, giving us both a gentle smile.

"It sounds beautiful."

We know then he understands and accepts. All done so casually, just like he always is about these things.

I nod my head in agreement.

_Yes, it was beautiful. Beautiful like Hari's pale skin under the moonlight. Beautiful like seeing her purple hair sprawled out in the grass by the lakeside. Beautiful like this crazy love she's gone and dragged me into._

I've always said Hari's not the only one who goes crazy during the full moon; she's just the only one who drags me along for the ride.

And this time, I'm glad she did.

* * *


	3. 12: Betrayal

Author's Note: For those that are curious, yes these stories take place roughly in the same universe as my other Ruri/Hari story- "The Sword and the Spear"

* * *

**Title:** Betrayed! 

**Theme: **Set #1, Theme #12: Betrayal

**Genre:** Romance/Humor/Shoujo-ai

**Pairing:** Ruri x Hari, Surprise pairing

**Word Count:** 1,164

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary: **Hari couldn't believe it. Ruri had betrayed her- and with a ninja of all things!

* * *

It started the moment she'd arrived back at the yashiki. At every turn of the hallway, on the lips of every servant or guard she passed, it was the same thing. 

"Did you see him? I heard he was a ninja."

"Probably. Their missions might have made them run into each other."

"And the look in their eyes when they came through that door…"

"I'm surprised they didn't just ignore the young man's injuries before jumping each other."

"You could see how much they wanted each other. It was so obvious."

"They're probably enjoying each other's company right now…"

Hari glared, storming her way down the hallway. She'd heard more than enough to piece the situation together. And the whole thing was making her furious.

They'd each had separate missions that day, both something simple. Hari was to go and negotiate with a local lord and kill him if necessary. Ruri was to go and see if these new groups of ninjas in the north were going to be a threat. And Menoumaru had left earlier that morning to go with his father to speak to a mercenary youkai army about joining their forces.

And now, there were these rumors of someone bringing a ninja back to the yashiki- which could only mean one thing…

"_She betrayed me!_" Hari fumed inwardly, "_She damn went and betrayed me!_"

Heading in the direction of the sleeping quarters, the purple-haired woman tried to formulate exactly what to say to her blue-haired lover. At the moment, everything seemed too cliché or just plain too nice for the situation at hand.

_"How could you! I thought we had something special."_

_"You slut, how long as this been going on?"_

_"Am I not good enough for you?"_

_"Perhaps we should talk… Without him."_

_"Would you like me to leave you two alone?"_

Turning the corner, Hari spotted a group of gossiping servants and made her demands.

"Okay, where is he? This ninja?"

The three ladies whispered amongst themselves before warily pointing to a door down the hallway.

"_The luxurious guest room for visiting royals, eh?__ Very cute, Ruri."_

As the purple-haired woman headed for the door, the pleas of the servants reached her ears.

"Hari-sama, it's probably not a good idea for you to…"

"They asked not to be disturbed…"

Turning a jade glare on them, the women silenced immediately as Hari flung open the doors.

"You…"

"H-Hari!"

The red-haired man, the one all the rumors had been circulating about, clutched the blankets up around him while leveling Hari with a questioning gaze.

"Do you two have something going on I don't know about?" The man asked; quirking an eyebrow as he glanced between them.

Hari just gaped, the words had left her and she just couldn't seem to find what to say at that moment.

"My, I'm just not sure what to do," He turned his gaze to his lover; "You're not cheating on someone, are you?"

"No. She's just…a friend."

The room fell eerily silent at that, the three all just staring at each other as they tried to find the right words for the situation. Vaguely, Hari registered the sound of footsteps behind her and she felt a familiar hand placed on her shoulder.

"Hari? What's wrong?"

Shakily, the young woman pointed to the two people in the room.

"Oh…errr… well, we should probably let them be."

Hari slowly turned, the steady hand on her shoulder guiding her away.

"Hari, wait! I can explain!"

Quick footsteps echoed off the floor and a hand reached out to grip Hari's wrist.

"Come on now, will you two at least let me explain?"

"Start explaining," She replied coldly.

"Well, I was out on a mission when I ended up chancing across this young ninja. He'd been separated from his group and I offered to bring him here to tend to his wounds. Then…one thing let to another and…"

"You let him seduce you?"

"I'm afraid…I did a bit of the seducing, Hari."

Two sets of eyes narrowed on the sheet-clad figure in front of them.

"Come on; don't look at me like that. I was going to tell you once you got back…"

"I've been back. I had to hear it from the servants!"

"Hari, calm down. Things just…happen," Her companion placated her.

"Neh, I don't mean to interrupt- but I really didn't know that _he_ was already involved," The ninja spoke up, walking over to stand beside his lover.

A chorus of "I'm not" and "he's not" echoed back.

"Suzaku, it's hard to explain. Just…"

Clinging to the purple-skinned man's arm, Suzaku grinned, "Oh I see now. These are those two lovely ladies you told me about. But I thought you said they wouldn't be jealous or anything about this, that they're already…"

Ruri cleared her throat from where she stood behind the others.

"Menoumaru-sama, next time please warn Hari and I when you'll be having company."

The teal-haired man nodded, quietly wondering why he was letting his subordinates reprimand him over sleeping with someone. Hari's pouty glare reminded him though.

"I'll remember that Ruri. And Hari, I'm sorry for giving you such a scare. I'll make sure to tell you upfront next time, all right?"

She nodded, still a bit shaken by the whole turn of events. As Ruri lead her down the hallway, her blue-haired lover pinpointed the exact problem.

"You heard that someone had brought an attractive ninja into the yashiki and thought it was me, didn't you?"

"No! I just..."

"I see your eyes are green for a reason," Ruri teased.

"Hey! You'd do the same!"

Ruri crossed her arms, "Okay so…maybe I would."

There was a pause, then the two started laughing.

"So Menoumaru's sleeping with that Suzaku guy then, right?"

"I guess so."

"Hmm, well if they're busy then…" Ruri smirked as she quickly reached down and scooped Hari up into her arms.

"Ruri!"

"Come on, you know you'd love to have some fun without having Menoumaru barge in on us to make some weird comments."

"… you have a point there."

The two smiled, as Hari leaned up and left a quick kiss on Ruri's cheek.

"Sorry I doubted you."

"Well, I can see why. I mean- that Suzaku did look more like a girl than a guy."

"Ruri, so does Menoumaru-sama."

Once again, the two started laughing as they made their way down the hallway to their room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Menoumaru had some explaining of his own to do. 

"So why was she so upset again?"

"Hmm, well- I guess it's sorta like having a younger sister. She's just mad that she didn't know about my love-life before walking right in on it."

"My, what a strange girl…"

"That and she probably heard the rumors and thought Ruri was cheating on her."

"Now that, I can see. Those two are so obviously sleeping with each other," Suzaku remarked with a laugh, "Oh well, it'll keep them busy- right?"

Menoumaru grinned, "That it will."

* * *

Author's Note, part two: For those curious- Suzaku is the red-haired ninja from episodes 137-139 of the anime. 


	4. 22: Bloodstain

**Title:** Tease

**Theme: **Set #1, Theme #22: Bloodstain

**Genre:** Romance/Humor/Shoujo-ai

**Pairing:** Ruri x Hari

**Word Count:** 702

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary:** Sometimes injures require a little "special" treatment.

--------------------------------

"She's as bad as a wounded animal," Menoumaru remarked shaking his head.

In the distance, a blue-haired woman could be seen crouching by the lakeside. A crimson stain was growing on her white attire that she didn't seem to pay any heed too. As the moth-youkai prince had noted, she was acting just like any animal would. Ashamed to have gotten injured, she would slink away from the yashiki and avoid having anyone help her.

"Shouldn't we do something?" A purple-haired woman asked from beside the moth-youkai.

"I've tried in the past. So have my servants, but after a battle- Ruri prefers to be alone. But perhaps, you can change that- hmm?"

Hari looked down at the ground, then glanced towards the woman. Nodding sharply, she replied.

"I'll try, Menoumaru-sama."

Handing her a pile of bandages, he patted her head, "That's a good girl."

Watching the second woman cross the field towards the lake, Menoumaru smirked.

"If she'll let anyone help her- it'll be Hari, that's for certain."

---------------------------------------

Down by the shore, Ruri absently traced patterns in the mud with her finger. She was so intent on ignoring the stabbing pains from her leg, that she didn't even hear the other woman approach.

"Ruri?"

Snapping her head up in surprise, her orchid eyes met with a pair of jade ones.

"Hari, what are you…"

"You're bleeding," She stated, kneeling beside her, "I just couldn't sit back and let it get any worse than it already is."

Pushing up her sleeves, she lifted up a strip of cloth she'd taken from Menoumaru and started to reach for Ruri's leg. But the blue-haired woman jerked away.

"It's fine. Don't worry about me and just go back up to the yashiki. I'll be up later."

Hari bit her lip, trying to figure out the best way to get Ruri to cooperate. Thinking back to her lover's rather playful tactics to steal food or cause a distraction, Hari smirked.

"All right, but I won't wait long."

Leaning over, she pressed her lips forcefully against Ruri's mouth. Using her position to her advantage, Hari quickly reached down and took hold of Ruri's wrists. Satisfied with the maneuver so far, she pulled back with a grin on her face.

"Hari, what are you doing!"

Using an extra bandage to bind the two wrists together, Hari shook all the rather risqué thoughts from her mind and focused on the task at hand. Once she was certain that the knot would keep Ruri still, she sat back on her heels and smiled down at the blue-haired woman.

"Sorry, but you're bleeding all over the place and no one wants to scrub a bigger bloodstain out of your clothes again."

Reminding herself once more that this was merely procedure to bandage the wound, Hari pulled the bloodstained pants off the other woman and looked at the gash on her leg.

"Are you trying to bandage me or seduce me?"

Laughing at Ruri's question, Hari began to wrap the cloth around the injured upper thigh.

"I'll bandage you now and perhaps if you're good, I'll seduce you later."

"Is that what I get for being a well-behaved patient, doctor?"

Glad to see that her cynical attitude was back in place, Hari shrugged and played along.

"Only if you're really good. But if you're bad, then I'll just go sleep in the servants quarters and leave you a nice, cold bed for the night."

The two taunted and teased back and forth as the white bandages slowly covered the injury. With their little ruse to distract them, they hardly noticed how quickly time went- and soon enough, the matter had been taken care of. Ruri's leg had been bandaged efficiently and now the women eyed each other for other reasons than playful banter.

Hastily pulling the bloodstained pants back on, Ruri stood and looked up at the yashiki.

"Okay Miss Doctor, I played nice. Now you owe me."

Wrapping her arm around Ruri's shoulders to balance her, Hari pecked a quick kiss on her cheek.

"All right. A promise is a promise. But next time I'm injured, I expect the same royal treatment."

Grinning in return, Ruri nodded, "Okay. It's a deal then."

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	5. 93: Shine Dully

**Title:** Shimmer  
**Theme:** Set #1, Theme #93 Shine Dully  
**Genre:** Romance/General  
**Pairing:** Ruri x Hari  
**Word Count:** 385  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Anything can be made beautiful.

---------------------------------

She'd found it amongst the remains of the village they'd attacked. It was small, smudged with dirt and blood and looked far from beautiful.

However, Ruri saw it differently than that; quickly tucking it into her armor before anyone could notice. Orchid eyes glanced towards Hari, watching her with more intensity than the others.

_"Did she notice?"_ Ruri wondered, knowing too well how attentive her companion could be.

But as the purple-haired woman began to walk away, Ruri let out the breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding. Feeling safe that no one noticed her pilfer the small trinket, she followed the rest of the army back home.

----------------------

Cursing and scrubbing, she tried her best to wash the grime from its golden surface. Hours and hours she worked, wanting to restore it to the beauty it held before the raid.

Slowly but surely, the gold began to show through the encrusted mud; the dirt washing away to reveal dull shine underneath.

But no matter how long she tried, it still wouldn't return to the brilliant gold it was before. There was a dullness to it that Ruri just couldn't wash away. Hoping this would still be good enough, she dried the necklace off; once again tucking it into her armor as she walked down the hallways.

Noticing the blur purple hair sweeping around a corner up ahead, Ruri quickly ran to catch up.

"Hari! Wait up!"

The woman stopped, turning back towards her friend.

"What is it, Ruri?"

The blue-haired woman paused to catch her breath, taking out the necklace and handing it over.

"Here. It's for you."

Hari's eyes widened as the intricate golden necklace was placed in her hands. It was made of a fine gold chain and a cluster of jewels dangled from the center.

"Where'd you get this? It's beautiful," She remarked, still admiring it.

"Oh- around," Ruri shrugged. "Here, let me put it on you."

She gently took the necklace from her lover's hands and reached up to secure it around her pale throat. As the jewels clattered, falling into place right above Hari's chest, Ruri smiled.

"Now- it's beautiful."

And no matter how hard she tried, Ruri could no longer call the necklace dull. For with it now resting around Hari's neck- it did nothing but shimmer and shine with beauty.

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